Power nightmare

Sorry, been playing neighbour's boat today and only just seen this. I can charge your battery tomorrow Nathan if you want, although I agree with the others that at that reading, your battery is fine. My two are currently reading 12.8volts and are fine.
 
You could have the following faults -

solar cells blown fuse somewhere - I fitted 1 amp fuse to 20 watt panels and it eventually blew months later.
Corrosion where wiring joins back of solar cells , electrolysis causes wires to vanish.
Shunt solar cell charger blown up because you left it connected in parallel with a bigger battery charger.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You could have the following faults -

solar cells blown fuse somewhere - I fitted 1 amp fuse to 20 watt panels and it eventually blew months later.
Corrosion where wiring joins back of solar cells , electrolysis causes wires to vanish.
Shunt solar cell charger blown up because you left it connected in parallel with a bigger battery charger.

[/ QUOTE ]

Had same problem on Vulpes three years ago.Same symptoms, loads of sun, no charge going inWe found the actual wire twxit panel & battery had corroded on our 11w USA made Solar panel- turned out our wire was steel not copper! worth checking?
 
I also think one of the other main points here is the fact you have no charts without power..not even for back up in exact situations like this...?!??!?!!?!

Personally I think thats crazy, but then I am from the old school of sailing whereby electronic navigational aids are exactly that. An aid to navigation and shouldnt replace proper, upto date charts..

Personal opinion only....
 
I am glad somebody has said that.

To cross the Thames estuary without a paper chart and a relying on a chartplotter powered by one battery which has a solar panel (in the UK in May!) as the only source of charging beggars my belief.

I am all for Corinthian spirit but this is plain irresponsible.
 
On his first vid i am sure I saw a few paper charts fly of the chart table, I will look again.

yep from 7mins 27 he is at work on the chart....the things I do in my lunch hour..(ish)
 
"This puts a big problem on my travels since I have no charts without power"

Seems pretty clear to me.

I too saw the vid with stuff flying everywhere and a set of dividers being used . In which case where is the problem with continuing?

I am sorry, I cannot countenance this sort of behaviour and I believe this should be a wake up call. No power = no charts, no nav lights, no anchor light, no vhf radio (even a handheld needs re-charging), no weather forecasts and CG info, no tillerpilot, no depth reading.

Relying on battery power is dumb. Relying on the UK sun to charge them is even dumber.

Sure, many have done all kinds of amazing things over the centuries in minimalist ways but I really do believe that a set of corrected PAPER charts is an absolute bare essential for a Round Britain voyage. RT McMullen and Claude Worth, I am sure, would not venture anywhere without charts and a lead line.

I think he should stop, take stock and try to do things simply and properly. Forget the camcorder, laptop and phone. Get some charts and someone to teach him how to use them.

Otherwise he will end up as another Captain Calamity. Or worse.
 
no charts,
no nav lights,
no anchor light,
no vhf radio (even a handheld needs re-charging),
no weather forecasts and CG info,
no tillerpilot,
no depth reading.
No Viking spirit /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I am sorry to say that I am forced to agree!
I abandoned my summer cruse last year as my wind gen had packed up - I didn't want to have to run the engine every few hours to keep my (5) batteries up for five weeks.
 
[ QUOTE ]
In which case where is the problem with continuing?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm ... continuing a voyage without batteries when you are safely in port and able to resolve ... or setting out to complete the next stage of your voyage knowing you do not have all the safety kit you had planned to have ...

I'd vote for staying in port ... at least you can do something about it - especially as it's blowing a bit out there .... can you imagine the fuss if Nathan had set out and got into difficulties - completely unable to raise the alarm?!

Got to agree with the solar power bit though - not sure I'd want them as my only source of charging ... windgen maybe - just stick your head out the window and feel the power!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
On his first vid i am sure I saw a few paper charts fly of the chart table, I will look again.

yep from 7mins 27 he is at work on the chart....the things I do in my lunch hour..(ish)

[/ QUOTE ]
What you can see is a single Imray C2 of the upper Thames Estuary.

I have been in touch, and am in regular contact with Nathan and can assure you all that when he sets sail again in a few days time, when the strong easterlies abate (and remember, they blow for nine days), he will have a very comprehensive set of charts and will be much more robust position to venture forth. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

By then, he might even have VHF radio, binoculars, AIS and even a barometer.

Barometers are good, ask Sixpence! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Well thats good

As far as the original problem is concerned, something just isn't right with the inverter, or the wiring to it... as a few others said already 12.75v corresponds to pretty much 100% charge for a 12v battery and any 12v powered electrical device should be more than happy with that...soooo it loooks like there is some duff connection between the battery and the inverter to me which is causing some major voltage drop.

Prime candidate would be if there is a cigarette lighter socket or something that the inverter is plugged into, those are always crappy things that corrode and give a dodgy connection.

I'd bet that there is nothing much wrong with the solar panel regulator, I think these things aren't usually linear regulators but just a simple switch that shuts off when they decide the battery is full (which it is...). At least thats how the one I've got works. So measuring voltage on the regulator when its not connected to a partly empty battery might not be very meaningful. Yep did a quick search on Google and came up with this http://ludens.cl/Electron/solarreg/Solarr~1.htm

Which kind of confirms that solar regulators can work exactly the way I thought they do, they are supposed to short out the solar cell once the battery is full....more efficient when charging that way.

And how I'd love to be doing a round Britain trip myself (with paper charts of course /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

Chris
 
Hi Chris - I know a bit more about the problem than stated in my earlier message.

As I said, I am in regular contact with Nathan and we have diagnosed the fault to be the charging regulator and not the solar panels.

I have contacted the manufacturer of the solar charger in person and wearing my electronics hat, I have ordered the components which we think have burnt out (2 x Power MOSFET's).

Hopefully these will be installed before the weekend and Nathan will be ship shape once again. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I agree with much of what has been said about this young man setting out on this venture in what seems an ill prepared way. I agree that his lack of generating capacity, lack of paper charts and over dependence on battery power seems unwise.

But, I admire him for his imagination in setting off to sail round Britain, or parts of it, especially on a small budget and in a minimalist sort of way. I wish I had done it when I was his age (I still want to do it)

So Nathan, if you get up England's east coast, and get to Scotland PM me. I'm sure I could lend you the charts for the east coast of Scotland and I might even buy you a pint. ( and charge your battery)

Good luck, good winds, and sail safely
 
"over dependence on battery power"
One way or another we are all totally dependant on battery power, the trick is to have more than one method of replenishing it.
Nathan's problem is that he only has a single source which failed, if he had:
an engine that could recharge
a mains lead and charger
even just a second battery, he would be in a lot better position.
 
[ QUOTE ]


I think he should stop, take stock and try to do things simply and properly. Forget the camcorder, laptop and phone. Get some charts and someone to teach him how to use them.

Otherwise he will end up as another Captain Calamity. Or worse.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for this wonderful vote of confidence! I've only just got back online to read it.

I taught myself how to do the chart work a long time ago, in fact about 4 years ago when I bought a Leisure 17. I am not dumb enough to do things without learning about them. Also, the Little Ships Club, of which I am a member, offers some wonderful training, which I have undertaken.

Please don't accuse me of being a complete prat. I am not stupid, I'm just skint. Nobody is born with the knowledge to sail a boat, it's something you have to learn through experience. I am doing that.

When I started climbing I had similar comments. You can't go up there without x, y and z, it's not safe. Well, I'm telling you, you can, and I did. Know your limits, and break them frequently, because it's the only way to improve yourself.

Also, I didn't leave the Thames estuary without charts. I had charts to cover me until the Crouch. In fact I have a passage planning chart up to the Ore if it really went wrong.

Thanks to David W, I now have charts to see me up to Scotland.

I have no hard feelings here, but your pessimism isn't going to stop me I'm afraid.
 
[ QUOTE ]
"over dependence on battery power"
One way or another we are all totally dependant on battery power, the trick is to have more than one method of replenishing it.
Nathan's problem is that he only has a single source which failed, if he had:
an engine that could recharge
a mains lead and charger
even just a second battery, he would be in a lot better position.

[/ QUOTE ]

I always had shore power charging. I bought a sterling 10amp switch mode charger which is fixed into the boat's shore power system, which would put a modern cruiser to shame I might add, since I fitted it all when I was earning money. The problem was not being on a pontoon to charge it. I am now in Bradwell though, and have a working solar controller (Thanks to lenseman, a new mosfet, and a soldering iron), and a second battery, giving me a total of 170ah. I reckon I should be fine from here on in on the power front. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
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